By Bob Makin
originally published: 08/01/2025
The Makin Waves Song of the Week is “Girl Next Door” by Greg Amici. PHOTO BY MARK JAWARSKI
Central Jersey singer-songwriter Greg Amici has penned a love letter to the unsung heroes of the music industry.
“Girl Next Door,” the third single from the recently released solo debut album, “Tragicomic,” is the Makin Waves Song of the Week.
As the Makin Waves Song of the Week, “Girl Next Door” also can be heard between 6 and 8 p.m. on Aug. 1 on “Radio Jersey at ThePenguinRocks.com. If you miss it, you can tune in any time in the archives at The Penguin and Mixcloud.
“Girl Next Door” was inspired by Allison Hagendorf, a music industry mover & shaker whom Greg met when she was an assistant to his East Brunswick chum Matt Pinfield. At the time, Greg was sidelined by a vocal polyp in the wake of great success in the late ‘90s with his band, Big Honey.
"At the turn of the century, I wrote a pilot about a bitter has-been/never-was singer-songwriter who is reinvigorated when a young record label assistant sees him perform at a dingy club, loves his music, and sets out to garner him some recognition and respect in the business,” Greg said. “Naturally, I took a hand at writing the theme song for this never-realized piece of genius: hence 'Girl Next Door.’ The ‘Lucy’ character was an invention, but as I began writing the script, I looked around for someone to serve as the model. I used to hang out with my old friend Matt Pinfield when he was at CBS, and would often come across his lovely, sweet-as-pie, hardworking, ambitious assistant. I realized I had my model. That girl was the now-famous Allison Hagendorf.”
The 12-song “Tragicomic” is on Montclair-based Magic Door, the record label of the studio where it was recorded and mixed by owner and Elk City/Melting Hopefuls drummer Ray Ketchem (Guided By Voices, Luna).
Ray also plays drums on the album and helped assemble an all-star team for it. Hoboken legend James Mastro (The Bongos, The Health & Happiness Show, Ian Hunter) produced and plays guitars, piano, bass, sax and mandolin. “Tragicomic” was mastered by Edgewater-based Sterling Sound’s award-winning Greg Calbi (Bruce Springsteen, John Lennon, David Bowie, Patti Smith).
Joining Greg, Ray and James on are Greg’s former band mates Joe Gentile (Big Honey) and Tommy Aboussleman (Electric TNT), Patti Smith bassist Tony Shanahan, Elk City vocalist Renee LoBue, Elk City guitarist Chris Robertson, and Greg’s East Brunswick guitar teacher Tommy Aboussleman.
The album’s art direction, design and photography was by Mark Jaworski. The double-gatefold limited-edition vinyl LP includes lyrics and liner notes. The CD includes a 16-page booklet with lyrics and liner notes. Mark also directed the video for “Girl Next Door.”
“Mark Jaworski is a genius,” Greg said. “We’d discussed doing a video for one of the songs. We were going to do something cool, but time-consuming. I wanted to get a video out by the middle of July, and time was marching on, so I called him and asked if we could just do it in one day in his studio. I left it to him to choose from several potential singles. On the day I arrived at the studio, he said he had a vision for ‘Girl Next Door.’ He sure did. My role was to twist, turn, pound, and cackle. The rest was all Mark. I had a blast, and the result was worth the back spasms I suffered the next day.”
Look for Greg to announce shows with his new band soon. In the meantime, enjoy these clips for more songs from “Tragicomic” - “Spin that Ball”, “No Fool”, and “Pumpkin Man”.
Bob Makin has produced Makin Waves since 1988. Follow Makin Waves on Facebook and contact Bob at [email protected].
New Jersey Stage is proud to be the home of Bob Makin's Makin Waves column since 2017. His Song of the Week column comes out every Friday. He also writes an Album of the Month and Interview of the Month as well.
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